研究生英语阅读教程基础级2版课文10及其翻译.docx

研究生英语阅读教程基础级2版课文10及其翻译.docx

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研究生英语阅读教程基础级2版课文10及其翻译

AmericanValuesattheCrossroads

[1]Facedwiththerapidchangeandthefearanduncertaintythatgowithit,individuals（citizens）aswellas（and）nationsometimesseektoreturntothewaysofthepastasasolution.Intheearly1980stheideaofreturningtothewaysofthepasthadastrongappealto（attraction）manyAmericanswhoincreasinglyviewedtheirpastasbeingbetterthantheirfuture.Ithasbeenobservedthatuntilthe1970sAmericansgenerallybelievedthatthepresentwasabettertimefortheircountrythanthepastandthatthefuturewouldbetterthanthepresent;by1978,however,publicopinionpollsshowedthatmanyAmericanshadcometobelievethatjusttheoppositewastrue:

thepasthadbeenbetterforthecountrythanthepresent,andthepresentwasbetterthanthefuturewouldbe.

[2]Thepopular（present）appeal（desire）ofreturningtotheways（styles）ofthepastasasolution（solve->solution）totheproblemsofthe1980swasdemonstrated（shown）whenRonaldReaganwaselectedPresidentoftheUnitedStatesin1980.TimemagazinechosePresidentReaganasits"manoftheyear'andsaidof（commented）him:

"intellectually,emotionally,Reaganlivesinthepast."

[3]OneofPresidentReagan'sbasicbeliefsisthattheUnitedStatesshouldreturnasmuchaspossibletoitspre-1930ways.Inthosetimesbusinessinstitutions（organization）werestrongandgovernmentinstitutionswereweak.ReaganbelievedthatAmericanvaluesofindividualfreedomandcompetitionarestrengthenedbybusinessandweakenedbygovernment.Therefore,hisprograms（goal/objectives）asPresidenthavebeendesignedtogreatlystrengthenbusinessandreducethesizeandpowerofthenationalgovernment.Bymovinginthiswaytowardthepracticesofthepast,PresidentReaganbelievedthatthestandardoflivingofAmericanswouldbegintoimproveoncemore（again）inthe1980sasithaddonethroughoutmostofthenation'shistory.

[4]Anumberofleadersinpolitics,education,andtheprofessionstakeadifferentapproach（method）thandoesPresidentReagan.Theybelievethatthenationmustadopt（use/makeuseof）newvaluestogoalongwith（togetherwith）theoldvaluesandthatitmustbepreparedtomakesomechangesintheoldvalueswhen（itis）necessary.

[5]Whatnewvaluesshouldbeadopted?

Thisisaverydifficultquestiontoanswer.However,itbecameclearinthe1970sthattherewasnolongeranabundanceofcheapenergyandthatshortagesofotheressential（basic/mostimportant）resourcessuchaswaterwerebecomingmoreserious.Thesefactssuggested（show）tomanyAmericansthatagreatervalue（should）beplacedontheconservationofnationalresources,thatis（namely/i.e.）,thatAmericansshouldsavemoreoftheseresourcesbylearningtouselessandwasteless.

[6]ConservationhasneverbeenastrongAmericanvalue.BecauseofthevastresourcesandspaceofNorthAmerica,Americanscametobelievethatabundancewasendless（unlimited）.Insuchanenvironment,thereseemedtobelittleneedforconservationofresources.AfterWorldWarIIAmericansbelievedthattheirmoderntechnologycouldwork（create）wondersandprovideanever-endingincreaseintheirstandardofliving.Itisnotsurprising,therefore,thatintheUnitedStatesbeforethe1980s,conservationhadlittleimportance（whenitis）comparedwithsuchothervaluesasfreedom,equalityofopportunity,hardwork,andtheaccumulationofmaterialwealth.

[7]Thereissomeevidencethattheexperienceofgreatershortagesofenergyduringthe1970scausedAmericanstoplacemoreemphasisonconservation.Forexample,apoll（survey）takenattheendofthedecadeshowedthat66%ofAmericansagreedwiththestatement:

"I'mnotunhappyaboutthepossibilityofshortagesbecauseIknowitwillencourage（urge）metouseeverythingefficientlyandnotwastefully."

[8]Somepeople,however,believethatpollresultsliketheserevealonlypartofthetruth.AlthoughAmericansmayagreewithstatementssupportingthevalueofconservation,mostofthemarenotyetapplyingthesebeliefsintheirday-to-day（daily）actions（life）.

[9]Beliefinconservation,therefore,isstillweak（whenitis）comparedwithotherAmericanbeliefs.Itcanbecomestrongeronlyas（when）Americansseetheneedforitmoreandmoreclearly.Conservationmaywellbe（become）anewvaluewhichneedstobeaddedtotheoldbasicvaluesinordertohelptheUnitedStatesdealwithitsfutureproblems.

[10]AsecondbeliefwhichhasneverbeenstrongamongtheAmericanpeopleisthebeliefthatthevalueofcooperationonanationalscaletoachievesomeimportantnational（goal）objectives.TheAmericanideaofthenationalgood（n./benefit/interest）hasneverbeenbasedonnationalcooperationbutratheronthefreedomoftheindividual.Americans,therefore,tendtothinkofthenationalgoodintermsofmaintaining（keeping）thoseconditionsthatprovidethegreatestfreedomfortheindividual.Theybelievethatanationoffreeindividualswillbenaturallystrongandprosperous.Plannedeffortsatnationalcooperation,therefore,arenotneeded.Moreimportant,plannedeffortsatnationalcooperationwouldmeanincreasingthepowersofthenationalgovernment,whichwouldendangerthefreedomoftheindividual.

[11]TheAmericanvalueofcompetitionalsohindersthedevelopmentofaspiritofnationalcooperation.Eventhoughcompetitiveactivityissupposedto（=should）beconducted（directed/done）accordingtofairrules（fairplay）,itdoesnotencourageaspiritofcooperation.Rather（instead/Onthecontrary）,itsometimesencouragesaspiritofmutualsuspicion（suspect）ofthemotives（purpose/desire）oftheothers.Acertaindegreeoftrustinthemotivesofothersisnecessaryforthesuccessofeffortsinnationalcooperation.

[12]IntimeofwarAmericanshavetemporarilyputasidetheirdislikeofplannednationalcooperation.Theyhavebeenwillingtocooperateandmakepersonalsacrificesunderthedirection（=leadership）ofthenationalgovernmenttobringthewartosatisfactoryconclusion（=end）.Inpeacetime,however,plannednationalcooperationisstronglyresistedasathreattoindividualfreedom.

[13]Thealmost（nearly）uniqueAmericanhistoricalexperiencegivesusadeeperunderstandingofthisattitude.Almosteverynationintheworldhashad,orstillhas,theexperienceofbeingruledbykings,emperors,dictators,orahereditaryclassofaristocrats.Suchrulersarenotelectedbythefreevotesofthepeopleandtheyhavethepowertosaywhatthenationalgoodisandtoforcetheirpeopletocooperateiftheycannotpersuadethemtodoso.Outof（among）theseexperiencestherehavedevelopedtraditionsandhabitsofcooperation,sometimesforgoodpurposesandsometimesforevil（bad/wrong）purposes.

[14]Americanshaveneverhadtheexperienceofbeingforcedtocooperateonanationalscalebynonelectedrulers.Foratime,theywerethecolonistsofGreatBritainandwerelegally（bind）boundtoobeyrulersinEnglandwhomtheydidnotelect,buttheBritishgovernmentallowedthecolonistsagreatdealoffreedomandself-governmentbythestandardsoftheday.Still（Furthermore）theAmericancolonistswerenotlong（soon）indemanding（requiring）morefreedomandself-government,andfinallydeclaringtheirindependencein1776.Fromthetimeoftheirindependence,Americanshavefreelyelectedtheirrulers.Theexperienceofbeingcompelledtocooperatebyunelectednationalleadersiscompletelyforeign（strange）totheirexperience.Theyarefearful（=fear）thatanyscheme（plan）ofnationalcooperationinpeacetimewillweakenordestroytheirfreedoms.

[15]Americanshavealwaysviewed（considered/regarded）cooperationasimportantinsmallgroupssuchasthefamily,theneighborhood,orthechurch.Butonthelargenationalscalewheregovernmentbecomesinvolved,itisseen（considered/regarded）ascoerciveanddestructiveratherthanvoluntaryandconstructive.Americantendtoassociatethegreatnessoftheirnationfarmorewithsuchvaluesasindividualfreedom,equalityofopportunity,hardwork,andcompetitionthanwithnationalcooperation.

[16]Yetthedemands（=needs）ofthe1980smaycompel（force）Americanstoplace（emphasize）agreatervalueonnationalcooperation.Itmaywellbethatsomeoftheproblemsfacingthem,suchasscarcityofresourcesandthedangersofairandwaterpollution,cannotbesolvedwithoutagreaterdegreeofnationalcooperation.

[17]IfAmericanschoose（=decide）togivemoreemphasistonationalcooperation,theywillprobablybeverycautiousaboutit.Inordertoprotecttheirfreedoms,theywillmoveslowlyinastep-by-step,problem-by-problemfashion（way）,ratherthanacceptasweepingnewplaninvolvingdramaticchange.Becauseoftheirtraditionofself-government,theywillprobablyinsiston（persistindoingsth.）agooddealofpublicdiscussionbeforeanysteptowardnationalcooperationistaken.

[18]Someobserversbelievethatthisslow,cautiousapproachmaybetooweakandtootimidtomeetthechallengesofthefuture.Americans,however,believethatsuddenrevolutionarychangesmadeinthenameof（inthehonor）thenationalgoodusuallyresultin（leadto）dictatorshipsinwhichfreedomislostandproblemsremainunsolved.

[19]Inthe1980sAmericansmayhavearrivedatacriticalpointintheirnation'shistory,wheremajordangersmustbefacedandmajorchoicesmustbemade.Ontheonehand,theywillwishtoavoidtheriskofmakingtoomanychangesinthebasicvalueswhichhaveinspired（encouraged）theminthepast.Ontheotherhand,theymustavoidwhatmaybethegreaterriskofrefusingtochangetheirvaluesatalleventhoughconditionsarechanging